Season 2 Episode 12
__TOC__ Forever (Released December 23, 2008) In a flashback, Yuu visits Yuuko Amamiya's gravesite to say goodbye, as he is leaving Japan to work on 'that project'. He says he will be gone for a long time in Australia. In another flashback, Chihiro wakes up and surprises Renji by wearing a sexy Mrs. Santa Claus costume. Renji's mother Sumire admires the warm Christmas weather in Australia. Meanwhile, back in Japan it is a white Christmas. Miyako gives cheery Christmas greetings to Hiro, and Kei chases after Kyosuke to help him prepare for the school film festival that is being organized by Emi Izumi. In the present, Kuze has survived his surgery and is back living at home. Mizuki rummages through Kuze's closet of fetishy girls clothes to find an appropriate dress to wear for the Christmas concert. Kuze owns so many outfits that she has a hard time choosing one. At the church, Kuze and Mizuki put on a Christmas concert for the whole Australian cast. Kuze plays A Moon Filled Sky, and Mizuki sings the full lyrics for the song. Afterwards, Kuze walks with Yuu along the beach. Kuze tells Yuu that he is glad that he is alive to see another Christmas. He tells Yuu, "This world is worse than I ever imagined, and better than I ever expected." Kuze tells Yuu that Mizuki will blossom and become a woman in a year, the implication being that he and Mizuki will delay the consummation of their love relationship until she is a legal adult. Back at the church, Nagi visits Yuu, who is sitting on the roof. She informs Yuu that her brother Hiro had seen and talked with the angelic Yuuko in the church in the real Otowa back in Japan. Yuu immediately flies to Japan to find her, as it will be Christmas soon. Last Meeting After waiting twelve long years, Yuu goes to the church in Japan on Christmas and finally meets the love of his life once again. He finally gives her the flower bouquet that he was never able to give her on that fateful day. He tells Yuuko that he is no longer an atheist (although he remains agnostic). They use Kuze's key to unlock and visit the school roof in Japan, where it all started and ended. Yuuko says that she has now fulfilled her last wish. She instructs Yuu to be happy and to look forward, never back. Yuu comforts her by claiming he will, but Yuuko knows that he blinks his eyes when he is untruthful. Realizing that Yuu will never stop thinking of her, she simply tells him that she will always love him. After she disappears, a single white angel feather gently floats into his hand. He grasps it and ponders its meaning, then he smiles as he looks up at the sky. See Yuuko's Reunion (YouTube). A Dream Realized In the final scene of Melodies, Yuu is seen standing on a high green hill alongside Mizuki Hayama. She reveals to him that her original name was Miki (which means 'future') and that she was the little child whom Yuuko and Yuu had saved so long ago. Mizuki looks down and marvels at the new town of Otowa, Australia, a city which Yuu created. Inspired by Yuuko, it is the realization of Yuu's dream: A city with a great future, in a tranquil and beautiful land, full of happy people, created together by and for the people that he loves. After the End Credits At the end of the credits, each of the English voice actors (VAs) gives a word of encouragement to the viewer in turn: Keep moving forward, one step at a time. You will reach your destination one day. Even if you are sad, you'll be okay. If you can just reach out your hand, someone will be there to share their warmth with you. '' ''Any path, no matter how difficult, can be crossed as long as you keep on holding to that hand. Please, never give up. There is happiness at the end of that long, long journey. And that happiness will grow, and bring warmth to the people around you. And I hope that you will realize one day that you were the happiness in someone else's life. Don't forget that you are not alone. You will leave your footprints. They will reach beyond time. And you'll look up into the heavens, and realize that you can go there, even if you don't have wings. The voice actors' final words of encouragement underscores the fact that, despite all of the suffering that takes place in the story, ef is ultimately a story about optimism. (This is not unlike Christianity itself, which is also about suffering and hope.) Previous Episode Category:Episodes Category:Season 2